But there are tough comparisons between the “recently unemployed” and the “long-term unemployed” who have been looking for a new position for years and have been unable to find a desired job in their preferred industry/location/pay level.

It’s the long-term unemployed that have struggled the most in convincing employers that the gap on the resume is not due to anything more than “it’s a tough market out there” rather than some unknown flaw that the applicant isn’t aware exists. Yes, there are jobs out there for pretty much everyone – the question is really whether you can find that one that is both desirable to you as well as you being desired by the company.

Because of all this, that explains why a RECENT HARRIS POLL SHOWED that 39% OF THOSE SURVEYED HAVE GIVEN UP ON THEIR JOB SEARCH. Here are some of what the survey found:

39% said they agree completely that “they’ve given up on looking for a job”

5% said they agree a lot with that phrase

11% said they agree somewhat

17% said they agree a little

The poll results posted aren’t entirely clear if the “39%” is made up of the “5% + 11% + 17%” or if each agreement percentage stands on their own. It’s more interesting to assume they all stand apart from each other, so that’s what we’re going with here.

Here’s one more item from the survey that’s a bit more telling about what it means to be long-term unemployed: